Impact of repetitive washing on recycled cotton knitted fabrics:a comprehensive physical property analysis

The textile industry’s rapid growth has significantly increased cotton textile production, escalating the volume of textile waste. Recycling cotton waste emerges as a solution, providing an opportunity to repurpose waste into valuable products. In this regard, the durability of recycled cotton fabrics under domestic laundering conditions becomes critical to ensuring sustainable textile practices. This research explored the effects of repetitive washing on the physical characteristics of knitted fabrics containing recycled cotton. The study focused on evaluating changes in key fabric properties, such as mass per unit area, thickness, density, air permeability, and fabric stretchability, including both elongation and unrecovered elongation, after subjecting the specimens to numerous washing cycles. Initial findings highlighted a significant increase in the mass per unit area during the first 10 washes, leading to a decrease in weight beyond the 10th washing cycle. This study further identified that changes in the dimensions of the fabric play a more critical role than the loss of fibres, contributing to the increased mass per unit area values. Results showed considerable variances in fabric attributes post-laundering, with notable adjustments in thickness, density, and air permeability. The study underscored a complex interaction between the washing conditions and fabric properties, where certain characteristics, specifically air permeability and the unrecovered elongation, were significantly affected.